Motient Marks 10th Anniversary of the Beginning Of the Largest Wireless Data Network in the Country
Pioneering Network Carries More Than 100 Million Messages Per Month
RESTON, Va., June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Motient Corporation (Nasdaq: MTNT - news) joins its customers in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Motient(TM) Network (formerly the ARDIS Network) -- the first and largest two-way, low latency wireless packet data network in America.
As incredible as it may seem, a mere 10 years ago most of the ubiquitous communications options we use today were barely in existence. In 1990, there were just over four million cellular subscribers in the U.S., compared to 93 million today. ``Electronic mail'' was a cumbersome and seldom available way to transact business. And commercial traffic was still banned from the Internet.
``Long before the proliferation of the Internet and email, the Motient network was providing on-the-go mobile users with interactive, real-time data communications,'' said Motient President and CEO Walter V. Purnell, Jr., former CEO of ARDIS. ``That same network now also provides America's businesses with nationwide wireless access to email and other new enterprise data applications. Today, the Motient network transmits more than 100 million messages per month.''
The original ARDIS network, commercialized in 1990 by IBM and Motorola, pioneered the idea of a nationwide messaging service for mobile users. ``The network has grown and evolved over the ensuing years,'' said Purnell. ``We have invested several hundred million dollars in upgrades and additions to build what is now an industrial strength, state-of-the-art network.''
In all of Motient's major metropolitan service areas the network has been converted from 4.8 to 19.2 Kbps. The network uses a robust T-1 backbone from AT&T, base stations and network controllers from Motorola, and fault tolerant Tandem Himalaya processors from Compaq. The network is completely backed up and monitored 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.
The former ARDIS has acted as a bellwether in many ways for the entire wireless Internet industry,`` said David Chamberlain, author of numerous books on the wireless data industry, and senior analyst with Probe Research, of Cedar Knolls, NJ. ''Motient's contributions to wireless data have been very significant ever since the company first introduced the concept of wirelessly- connected handheld data communicators into the marketplace.
``After starting out as a technician-dispatch system, the Motient network broke ground for the rest of the nascent wireless data industry by being the first to market with several business models, such as wireless email, mobile office and public safety,'' said Chamberlain. ``More recently, their merger two years ago with American Mobile Satellite Corp. created a unique network that combines terrestrial and satellite data communications, voice dispatch and a telephony system. This is a key development for transportation operators, who have always needed both metro and rural coverage.''
``Because it was conceived back in 1990 specifically to allow mobile workers to communicate, the Motient wireless data network was far ahead of its time,'' said Purnell. ``Ten years ago, wireless data applications served a relatively exclusive group of users. But now, with the emergence of the Internet as a transport, and email as the medium of choice for real-time business communications, Motient has the ideal infrastructure to support wireless access to that email and to the Internet. Thanks to the foresight of the industry pioneers who built the Motient network, the company today is able to serve a vastly wider range of new business users.''
An aggressive build-out in 1999/2000 boosted the infrastructure of the Motient network to more than 2,000 base stations, extending wireless data communications service to 99 percent of the 500 most populous U.S. cities. Because it supports a broad range of standard connectivity protocols, Motient allows users to wirelessly extend virtually any information system. Together with Motient's satellite network, the wireless terrestrial network provides a full range of email, telemetry, transportation, field service, and nationwide voice dispatch services.
``Because the Motient network was designed to provide superior coverage on the street, inside vehicles, and deep inside buildings, Motient customers can access critical data and email communications from virtually anywhere,'' said Purnell. ``In the world of 'Internet speed,' Motient continues its tradition of giving America's mobile professionals a fast, reliable way to stay connected, no matter where they are.''
About Motient
Motient (www.Motient.com) owns and operates an integrated terrestrial/satellite network and provides a wide range of two-way mobile and Internet communications services principally to business-to-business customers and enterprises. The company provides its industry-leading eLink(sm) two-way wireless email service to customers accessing email through corporate servers, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Mail Service Provider (MSP) accounts, and paging network suppliers. Motient serves a variety of markets including mobile professionals, telemetry, transportation, field service, and nationwide voice dispatch offering coverage to all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and hundreds of miles of U. S. coastal waters.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements in this news release are described in Motient (formerly American Mobile Satellite) Corporation's registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-81459) and in Motient (formerly American Mobile's) annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999 and its other periodic filings and reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of such reports and filings are available upon request from Motient Corporation's Investor Relations Department
SOURCE: Motient Corporation |
